1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system for reading magnetically encoded, radially patterned data from a token, and more particularly to a system for the recognition and authentication of such tokens for use in the gaming, transportation and amusement industries. A system for scanning the token includes a magnetic reader head located adjacent a slot having multiple paths through which the token passes. A mechanism that directs the token to the appropriate location is provided within the slot.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic media are used for security and identification on many applications. Tokens and chips are used by amusement, gaming and transportation industries among others.
For example, the gambling industry utilized gaming chips and tokens which are purchased by players at the casino and then used in the place of cash. Forged and counterfeit tokens and gaming chips are a serious problem in the industry.
Slot machines and other types of standard gaming systems have typically been configured to accept standard coins of the country or region in which they operate. A number of different types of systems have been developed for accepting and verifying the authenticity of various types of coins, as well as a number of different types of resident specific tokens which may be used in the machines in place of coins. Tokens are generally identical in size and weight to one type of coin, such as the large American Eisenhower dollar, and are assigned various denominations by the issuing establishment, where they may be used as an alternative form of tender. In general, these tokens have no legally recognized value in commerce outside of the issuing establishment.
As the demand for such tokens has risen, and the denomination of such tokens has been increased by the issuers, so has the incidence of counterfeiting. Hence, the design and manufacture of the tokens and the corresponding systems for detecting the authenticity of these tokens have become increasingly more sophisticated. A conventional coin comparator is manufactured by Coin Mechanisms, Inc., of Elmhurst, Ill. Coin Mechanisms' Coin Comparitor Model CC-40 operates by optically comparing an input coin with an appropriate sample of that same type of coin.
Since similar sized chips are used by many different gaming establishments, the chips have been marked in different ways to distinguish between issuers. Typically, the markings on the chips have only indicated the issuing establishment and the chip's denomination. In order to further distinguish between chips and aid in the sorting of different chips, CHIPCO International Incorporated developed the Craftmanchip Series gaming chips, which are imprinted with an invisible ultraviolet bar code.
The invisible bar code used by CHIPCO is a linear bar code that is imprinted across the front or back face of the chip and which can be automatically scanned by an ultraviolet bar code scanner. Linear bar codes are also used on a wide variety of items, other than gaming chips, to convey a diverse variety of information. To read a linear bar code imprinted on a chip, it is first necessary to align the chip such that the bar code passes the bar code reader such that the bar code can be successfully read. Aligning a circular or disk-shaped object such as a chip so that the chip may pass by a sensor in a linear direction without angular motion is difficult and greatly restricts the type of reading system which can be sued with such chips. In addition, since ultraviolet imprinted chips cannot be visually inspected by players before they accept the chips, the players will be hesitant to accept them because the players have no way of visually determining if they are valid or remain valid after accepting the.
Magnetically encoded identification cards and the like have also been used in the gaming industry, such as then Gaming Data System customer identification cards of Dearborn Computer Company of Nevada in Las Vegas, Nev. Magnetic encoding has not found application in gaming chips because of the sensitivity of the magnetic material and the misuse typically imparted on such chips.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,081 is directed to an apparatus and method for reading data encoded on circular objects, such as gaming chips.
As claimed in the '081 patent the apparatus for reading and authenticating the validity of a gaming chip includes: a chip reducing area located within the apparatus; means for positioning and rotating the chip about the central axis while the chip is disposed within the chip reading area; means for reading the indicia when the chip is rotated in the reading area and outputting a first signal corresponding to the indicia; and means for receiving and analyzing the first signal an outputting and accept or reject signal; and means for moving the chip into either an accepted or a rejected position in response to the accept or reject signal.
As claimed in the '081 patent, the method for reading or authenticating a gaming chip involves positioning the chip in a reading position so as to allow the chip to be rotated about the central axis; reading the indicia from the chip when the chip is rotated in the reading position and developing a first signal corresponding to the data bit information of the chip; and receiving the first signal and analyzing the first signal to determine whether the chip is accepted or rejected.
The ability to scan chips on a gaming table, as well as tokens used in slot machines, for their value and authenticity, would benefit casinos in reducing fraud and improving their management of gambling operations.
Accordingly, the ability to manufacture tokens and chips with an effective discriminating covert marking system to identify chips by denomination, house ownership, and chip-specific serial numbers, would provide advantageous results in overcoming such problems.
RF tags, coil/UV capacitors, and electromagnetic codes also have been proposed to solve such problems. However, none have yet resulted in a successful solution identifying gambling chips and tokens.
Problems with these technologies include the fact that tokens must withstand pressures of about 800 psi and temperatures within the range of about 400.degree.-600.degree.. In addition, the surfaces of tokens must be available for printing of custom-designed patterns/colors, casino name, and token value, leaving only 0.030" of token thickness in which to place the encoding structure.
The most successful technology to date for recognition and/or authentication of tokens while meeting these requirements, is the use of static magnetic patterns radially encoded onto thin magnetic substrates or with magnetic ink.
Those concerned with these and other problems recognize the need for a static magnetic pattern verification system for reading magnetically encoded, radially patterned data from tokens for use in the gaming, transportation and amusement industries.